I was invited by Richard Levine with Athena Farms to visit the growing areas and farmers in Salinas, California. To a chef this is probably one of the most exciting adventures one can go on. To be able to see the area where most of the country’s vegetables are grown is an amazing thing. We started off the first morning sipping coffee in front of the hotel waiting for everyone to gather. There were about eight of us, three from Athena Produce Co., the owner, sales people and buyers. Also the broker that Athena buys from attended and one other chef besides myself.   We...

Every once in a while I get a great craving for a simple, lean, oven roasted pork loin and while walking through the market the other day I saw these fabulous pork loins  from Thompson Farms and decided to take one home for dinner. Thompson Ranch is located in Dixie, Ga. and provides fresh, naturally grown, environmentally  friendly, pasture-raised pork with no hormones or antibiotics. As I was waking around the market I kept asking myself:  how should I cook the pork loin  and how would I  take a picture for a upcoming blog post? For pork — and meat in general — it is very hard...

Sweet and Sour Balsamic BBQ Ribs Grilled Georgia Corn with Pesto Butter & Lemon Thyme Grilled Yukon Gold Potatoes I really love to barbecue and over the years I have come up with this cooking method for ribs. Some people do not simmer their ribs first but I think it is necessary to use some kind of moist heat to breakdown the membranes and insure the tenderness of the ribs. This method of cooking ribs takes time but well worth the effort! Lets go ahead and marinate the ribs! Marinate and Simmer the ribs. 1 piece baby back ribs (about 1 1/2 pounds) 1 48 ounce can pineapple juice 2...

I am always fascinated by things that rise in the oven and wanting to surprise my wife with dinner and dessert for our anniversary I decided to look through some old recipes and came across this recipe for souffle. Long ago, I happened to get this recipe from a  French chef who opened 103 West in Atlanta many years ago. The kitchen would turn out some of the most beautiful souffles I had ever seen. This recipe is almost fool proof and allows a little more stabilization by adding a little cornstarch to the egg whites. I broke down the recipe and made a souffle to test before my wife got home...

I love this time of year when morels and ramps are in season and I am waiting for the fiddlehead ferns become  available. Wild ramps have a very distinct and strong garlic/leek flavor and that is why I choose them for this dish. Wild ramps and morels grow well in the upper northwest in the early spring and make a nice paring for sauted rainbow trout. I purchased the ramps and morels from Foods in Season which is known for fresh, wild, foraged, and sustainable harvested foods.             The morel stems must be trimmed and then soak the morels  in running water...

During the summer months my Mothers basil would grow like weeds. We always had tons of fresh  basil  and my mother would make jars and jars of fresh pesto. She would take the time to teach me how to pinch the scented little buds off the top of the plants in order to make the basil grow larger and branch out creating a very large bush. We would pick the large leaves in the early morning and she would have me wash and tear them into the blender. One of  my favorite and simple dishes that she would prepare is pasta with pesto, grated cheese and extra virgin olive oil. Bucatini is a thick...

Juniper, Lemon and Sea Salt Cured Salmon I have been doing a lot of research on food photography and I thought I would try to use some of my new found knowledge with a post on gravlox. I picked gravlox for two reasons, one because I used a Tasmanian Salmon that  I purchased from Honolulu Seafood company which turns out  a bright red color for my photos and the other  reason is that my wife and I like to sit around Sunday mornings eating gravlox with mustard sauce while watching the early news or a movie. Tasmanian salmon swim in very deep and cold water off the coast of Australia . The...

    Roast chicken is one of the easiest and most often cooked dinner entrée’s in our household and over the years I have simplified and tested so many different methods to try to get that perfectly roasted chicken. The idea is to get the skin as crispy and salty as you can while keeping the center meat tender and juicy.  I start with a very hot oven (425 degrees), turn it down for a while and do not open the oven! I  wait until halfway through the cooking cycle to add  my fresh herbs and sometimes freshly chopped garlic. Before roasting brush the entire chicken with soy sauce...

It all began back in the early 1990′s while working for Pano as chef at the old Fish Market in Lenox Square and waiting for the Atlanta Fish Market to open. The area where the Atlanta Fish Market was to be built was not ready for building yet and Pano asked me to apply for a job as a  line cook with Vini Vidi Vici’s. He did not own the restaurant at that time but was owned  by Marcella and Giuliano Hazan. Before being hired on at Vini Vidi Vici’s my wife and I had a chance to dine there. I remember as they seated us the assistant waiter bought to the table...

Slow Braised Short Ribs, Garlic Broccolini and Horseradish Mashed Potatoes Ingredients ¼ cup olive oil Kosher Salt Black Pepper 4 each 12 oz beef short ribs 1 cup diced carrots 1 cup diced celery 1 cup diced onions 2 cloves garlic sliced 1 each 12 can whole tomatoes, peeled ¾ cup Red Wine 6 cups good veal or beef stock 1 Tablespoon chopped rosemary 1 Tablespoon chopped Thyme Season the short ribs with salt and pepper. Add the olive oil to the hot sauté pan and brown on both sides. Remove from pan. Add the garlic, carrots, onion and celery to the pan and brown for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and...

For the last couple of weeks I have been taking a close look at each and every recipe on our dessert menu including our honey walnut bread which is probably our signature bread.  You see, after the (abrupt) departure of our pastry chef I made an executive decision and took on the day to day responsibilities of the pastry chef myself. Playing in flour, eggs, butter, sugar and vanilla is one of my life time passions. I started my career as a pastry /sous chef for Pano’s and Paul’s many years ago and because of my success Pano put me on a plane to The Culinary Institute...